After much speculation over the week, San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance will make his first career NFL start in the Week 5 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan officially ruled out quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for Week 5 due to the nagging calf injury that he suffered against the Seattle Seahawks. While there was initial optimism that he would be available against Arizona, Garoppolo was unable to feature in any of the 49ers’ scheduled practice sessions this week.
Lance is now being called upon for what will essentially be the biggest test of his football career. Even as all eyes will be on his performance in Week 5, the rookie quarterback is not making a grand deal out of this decision.
In speaking during a press conference on Friday, Lance opened up about his mentality ahead of his first career start in the league.
“I'm excited, obviously, but not going to make it bigger than what it is,” Lance said. “I feel prepared and had a good week preparing, I guess, honestly, pretty similar to how I usually do.
“Obviously, getting more reps, I was hoping Jimmy [Garoppolo] would be healthy for sure. But he's done an awesome job and him and Nate [Sudfeld] both have helped me out a ton this week and [quarterbacks coach] Rich [Scangarello] and coach [Kyle] Shanahan as well.
“So, I'm excited for it for sure. Excited for the opportunity.”
Lance featured in the second half of the 49ers' home loss to the Seahawks after Garoppolo was ruled out for the remainder of the contest due to his calf injury. He threw a pair of passing touchdowns, although it was not enough to lead San Francisco to a key comeback win.
Lance has had time to review film from the game and sees one key area where he can improve on.
“Yeah, I learned a ton for sure going back and watching it,” Lance said. “But I'd say probably the same stuff right now that I did right after the game. Missed a few, some good, some bad but definitely learned a lot from it and got better from it.”
The 49ers will look to keep pace with the Cardinals and Rams in the NFC West with a possible Week 5 win over the former.
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